Sri Lankan parliament passed a no-confidence motion against the controversially appointed government of Mahinda Rajapaksa who was made prime minister on October 26 by replacing Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya stated that a majority of the 225-member assembly supported the no-confidence motion against Rajapaksa.
The motion was moved by United National Party (UNP) member Lakshman Kiriella.Just before the vote was taken up, Rajapaksa walked out of the chamber, along with his son and MP Namal Rajapaksa.
Though Wickremesinghe’s party has a majority in the parliament, President Maithripala Sirisena, who had backed Rajapaksa, still retains the power to choose the next prime minister.
Karu Jayasuriya announced over his public address system “I rule that this House does not have confidence in the government (of Rajapaksa).